The Last Guest Goes Home

(I apologize for the blot on one of my sky photos. It looks like my lens need cleaning but I'm afraid to scratch them so have been delaying the task).

The sun is going down quickly.

Unofficially summer is now over. My house guests have all gone home ~ just. The garden/s have stopped producing though the geraniums are still bright and thriving.  The geraniums always last a long time and that probably explains why they are one of my favourite container plants. Soon I will need to clear the debris from the garden and organize the patio for the winter season.  Unfortunately I didn't seem to have time to sit out and enjoy the patio this summer as I had planned. Perhaps next summer will be better as I hope I will be finished with the major decluttering by then and won't have annoying tasks hanging over my head.

I'm reading a book or two. I just finished the interesting booked entitled Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. It's a good thing I enjoyed the book a lot so I could read it quickly.  Though I've only had it out of the library fo a week there are almost 160 people who have joined the wait list for it.  I'm also reading Lisette's List.  The writer and the book have excellent reviews but I'm finding this book less enjoyable. It isn't the subject matter but the style of writing that I don't enjoy quite as much as the first book I've mentioned. I am enjoying the 2nd half of the book more than the first half so I will finish it.

I plan to go to the library on Thursday or Friday to drop off completed books and pick up a new book, a Gothic mystery called The Poison Thread.  It comes highly recommended from someone I follow on You Tube.  In Europe it goes by the title, The Corset.  I'm not sure why it has a different name in different parts of the world.

My cousin was here for a few days and went back to her sisters on Wednesday.  We had one less day together than I had hoped but she is flying home on Friday and still has a few things to do with her sister. Yesterday we went to Chinatown for late lunch then took a scenic ride on the bus to a movie theatre in my general neighbourhood.  We went to see the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the relatively new movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. It is set in the time of Charles' Manson and his cult followers but it doesn't copy the story that many of you will be familiar with  regarding the late Sharon Tate. The movie is a bit quirky and darkly comical. My cousin and I both rated the movie as fine but rather slow moving until the latter scenes. It wasn't the best movie I've seen but it certainly wasn't the worst.

I'm glad I got to see it as it was on my list of movies to see and I'm getting the feeling it will soon be gone from the big screens here in my city.  Once the movie ended we decided to walk back to my home.  Though it was dark we felt safe enough together and the distance was only about 8 blocks through a residential area. I wanted to stop at the late night pharmacy on the way home and pick up some sliced bread. We ended the late part of the evening and our visit by watching a taped program of the Amazing Race Canada.  In the morning there was only time for coffee and a brief goodbye. So that is it for our visit and maybe we will see one another again at Christmas or next summer.

I wasn't able to do much in the way of laundry or cleaning today because my hot water is shut off until tomorrow.  The boiler is being upgraded and the water supply has been impacted over the past several days (it turned out to be 4 days and 3 nights. I was only expecting 3 days and 2 nights). Besides reading and visiting with relatives I've also been spending a bit of time sewing and knitting. Depending on my progress I hope to share the projects in a future post.  It's a bit sad to see the end of my guests for another year but I now turn my head and hand to many other things on my 'to do' list.

I'm not sure but I think these 2 lovebirds were on a kayak, maybe 2 kayaks.

All photos in this post were taken at Spanish Banks in Vancouver, BC.

~~~~

Linking up with 

Skywatch Friday
this week. 

Thank you so much for your visit and your comment.

Updated - Giveaway for a Cause

Hello friends,

I wanted to share this really cool giveaway (from Joy) and a  craft exchange with fellow crafters.

Its being organized by blogging friend Joy, a talented crocheter who lives in England.

The poster says deadline is February 14, 2015 but Joy has extended the deadline to February 20th to allow all you crafters time to participate.

Please read how it all works at Joy's blog here.  You have a bit beyond February 20th to get your craft item ready for shipping. I know I like to receive something from another crafter far away. It's almost like Christmas :-)

Thanks so much!

Busy Hands

 If I could tell the world just one thing it would be we're all okay, and not to worry cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these. I won't be made useless, won't be idle with despair, I will gather myself around my faith.  Light does the darkness most fear.

Jewel, American singer/songwriter

Hi friends,

While I've been house bound, I've been working on a few things besides my decluttering  project.

For example, I've been knitting lots of dishcloths for my Etsy shop.  All proceeds from my shop go to Kenyan missions.  I find the knitting allows me to relax and think and pray about things on my mind.  It also helps me feel like I am doing something useful and something that may yet be helpful to the missions in the country I hold dear.

I made my rug out of old pajamas which you can see here.

Another project that I've started is a Wizard of Oz quilt that I was originally planning to make for a Christmas gift.  I ran out of time so now I am making it for a summer birthday gift.

It is a simple quilt and the quilt layers are being secured by hand with yarn ties instead of machine stitching.  I'll also add a few rows of machine stitching just to make the blanket extra secure.

I still need to cut off the edges and make a binding to sew around the edges.

There are a few birthdays in February and early March so I've been working on some small gift packages.   One for a local friend and and one for an aunt who lives out of town.

My friend turned 69 years of age on February 11th.  Since she has become a senior citizen we don't get together as often as we used to and her health has been fragile for some time.  This year we were going to celebrate her birthday by going out to high tea.  But she came down with pneumonia a few days before her birthday and quarantined herself while on a course of strong antibiotics. I told her to take it easy and not push herself at this time so she can get better and I was relieved to hear her sounding much better over the phone a few days later.

This is part of the gift for my friend, Rose. I've made her two red dishcloths and thought this lovely china cup would be a nice cup from which to drink her tea.

Next month my aunt will celebrate her 67th birthday.   I made her two dishcloths in shades of green and blue and included some note paper, a nice pen with floral designs on it and some funds so she could treat herself to a meal out in a restaurant.

I hope my aunt likes her small gift.

Now and then  it is lovely to be remembered by someone else.  Do you agree? I don't think your remembrance has to be anything huge or expensive. I think my friend and my aunt will both feel remembered when they receive their gift packages.

(My apologies for the poor photos. It was late at night when I took them.)

I hope you will come back soon.  I am planning a giveaway which I haven't done for awhile. I will post all the details right here.

Enjoy your week.

Time is Flying By!

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

  1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 NIV

I cannot believe that it has been an entire week since I've posted. I think that has only happened twice in the last several years so my apologies to my regular readers.

The weather has turned cloudy this week and today the rain accompanied the dark sky.  The rain is expected to last a few days.  It came down rather heavily today but I was fine with my jacket and rain hat as I braved the weather to go to the fabric shop. I was looking for fabrics so I could finalize plans for two quilts.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the shop and found a very long line up.  There were also many people hanging around the front entryway, mostly young men.  I quickly realized that the majority of young shoppers were there looking for ready to wear Hallowe'en costumes or fabric to make costumes. 

The popularity of Hallowe'en grows every year and people spend lots of time and money getting creative with their costumes.  I don't celebrate Hallowe'en or get dressed up in any costumes.  That stopped when I was 13 years old.  I don't even give out candy to children because there are really so few children who go house to house.  These days mainly it is a time for adults to get dressed up and have a license to party.  I'm beginning to sound like the Hallowe'en Grinch, lol. It isn't that, but I do not celebrate most holidays except Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

After winding my way through the crowded store, I managed to find most of what I needed.  Afterward, I met a friend for dinner.  Then we went for coffee and she shared some sweets though I didn't want too much of it today. I walked her to the Bingo where she said she would play a round before making her way home.  I walked home the several blocks rather than catching the bus.  There I sat, unpacking my "goodies" and trying to figure out how to work my various fabrics into the two quilts I have in mind.

One find that I did not have on my list when I went to the fabric store today was fabric for a quilt for my niece.  I've decided to make a very simple quilt for her using a quilt panel with images from Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. My niece LOVES Dorothy and the different characters like the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion and so I thought it would be a nice Christmas present just in case I don't see her for Christmas and have to mail the present, I need something that will ship easily.

This is part of the panel I will sew to some quilt batting and backing.

This week I also made this crocheted scarf.  It has metallic thread in it which gives it a glittery look.  Some of you might remember the one I made last week in shades of rust and brown.

In trying to wrap up my reading goals for the year and make progress on a late addition goal (reading the Bible from cover to cover), I managed to finish reading "Letters from Africa, 1914-1931", Isak Dineson (Author), Frans Lasson (Editor), Anne Born (Translator).

I recently read Isak Dineson's (Karen Blixen's pen name), "Out of Africa" which leaves out many details because it is not written chronologically.  This book of letters helps to fill in some of the gaps.  What I enjoyed most in the letters was reading about the many people Karen Blixen met in Kenya, her day to day activities on the farm, her interactions with the tribal people, her love of nature, which included many hunting trips, and just the way life was in Kenya during it's early foreign settlement.  Karen Blixen also writes extensively about feminism, marriage and sexuality.  But I felt that her writings on these latter subjects did not convey her thoughts quite as clearly as on the former subjects.  The fact that she did express views on these subjects at all however, make this book an interesting "must-read".

At the moment, I am reading the classic, "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck.  This will be my last book in my annual reading  goal before I carry on with my goal of reading through the Bible.  I thought I had reached it already with the completion of "Letters", but I was mistaken.  When I was a university student, I read "East of Eden" and remember enjoying it a lot. Recently I found an old copy of the book in the thrift store and decided to re-read it.  I am not enjoying it as much as I did the first time.

I think it's because I no longer have the tolerance for racism against Native Indians (through use of derogatory terms like "squaw"), or misogynistic views of women which is conveyed in different ways throughout the book.  The story is about the two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and it is set in Salinas, California during the era when California was first being settled.  Racism and misogyny were likely very much in existence in those days, just as they are now so in that sense they make perfect sense in the book.

John Steinbeck is one of the foremost American writers of recent times and it is important to be familiar with at least some of his writings. Many of you have probably read  his novel, "The Grapes of Wrath" or at least seen the film by the same name and I would recommend "East of Eden".

Soon, I must get started on my other quilt projects and make some crochet or knit hats.  I have so many projects to undertake that it is often difficult to know where to begin so I usually just work on whatever I feel inspired to work on at any given time.  


I  wish you all a wonderful week ahead!

Works in Progress

I've been super busy trying to learn how to read knitting patterns and make sweaters. Knitting a sweater is one of my goals for this year so I am making good progress on my goals. Now that I have some limited experience with flat sweater making I have to learn how to do it in the round. Then I'll be able to make socks and tackle more interesting sweater patterns.

Knitted newborn baby sweater and cap made with new yarn. This is my first set. The sweater still needs to be sewn together.  The cap is not really a set with the sweater but for now it is the only one that I've made in complementary colours.  This was a learning experience in every way.  I learned how to read a pattern, how to add cast on stitches to a work in progress,  and how to shape the neckline.  

This knitted baby sweater is my second attempt at knitting a flat sweater.  This one will fit a 3 month old baby with added room for ease.  I have changed up the pattern in the first photo (above) with mixed results. I added a crochet insert in each sleeve (visible on the under sleeve to the right of the photo), added a crocheted edge all around the outside of the sweater and a button for extra interest.   It is made with unused yarn from the thrift store. I have one more skein of this yarn and I'm hoping it is enough to make matching booties.

 This is the latest item I am making and the first crochet item I've made in this pattern which is a ripple or wave pattern.  This item is being crocheted with odd balls of yarn in (mostly) complementary colours.

I thought this would be a lap blanket to drap over the the wing chair in the master bedroom.  In talking to mom, I realized she needs it more than I do.  She will cover her lap when she is driving around in her chair. The colours seem busy, but they will coordinate with a lot of her wardrobe.

I've had mixed success with these projects so far. I'm finding I don't have a lot of patience for starting and re-doing things when I make mistakes. I also don't have a great deal of patience for reading patterns and/or waiting for long periods to be able to ask someone for help.  I do belong to a group of knitters and crocheters but most of them are not experienced knitters and are learning like me. We also meet very infrequently, so it isn't much help as of yet.  So then I go on line and try to find the answers to my issues.

There are a lot of video tutorials on line but I find they generally leave some important aspect of the learning process, or the pattern, unaddressed. Not everyone out there is a good teacher though they may be excellent knitters or crocheters.  I need detailed instructions and I also need to have the patterns explained to me in a way that it helps me remember the patterns. I don't learn well by simply watching. I need to understand HOW a pattern works and the potential issues and solutions beforehand.

For example, one instructor said he had had a difficult time for years with uneven ends a the ripple afghan (That is a ripple afghan in my bottom photo. The bottom edges need to be uneven and "wavy". It is the sides of the afghan that can become uneven and they aren't supposed to be.) similar to the one in my bottom photo above). Then he went on to explain his version of how to make the ripples.  When I went to view and follow his written instructions, they were incorrect.  One small error but it makes a huge difference to a beginner.  He also  never did say how to make sure you don't get uneven side edges in your finished product to save everyone else the grief that he himself experienced.  In the end, I abandoned his video lesson and I resorted to a set of written instructions I had on hand.  The end result, is a pattern which is somewhat different than those that I've been viewing on line.  At least I did learn enough from the video tutorials to make more sense of the printed pattern I have.

Initially, I intended to make the crocheted afghan with the yarns in my yarn stash.  I quickly discovered that this won't really work. I don't have enough skeins in the right weights and colours to make a lap afghan. Even though my yarns are mixed washable fibres in 3.5 or 4 weight yarn, I still found that the cheaper yarn at the slightly heavier weight made a difference in the stitches and things became a little less even than I would like.  I will try to resolve any uneven edges with a border finish at the end of the project but I won't be able to do anything about the stitches in the body of the afghan.  I also realized that it isn't a good idea to mix inexpensive yarns with more expensive yarns. In the above example, the blues and whites at the bottom of the photo are less expensive yarns and it really comes across in the feel and size of the stitches. Nonetheless, it is a good practice piece. I think my second attempt will be better and I've already decided on the colours (burgundy/dark red, cream, orange, tan, maybe green) for my living room lap afghan. On second thought, I think I will skip all the colours and make it shades of green which will be more neutral.

Based on what I've learned, I will buy all my yarn in advance.  I will use a larger size hook (size 6 instead of 5) and I will work the stitches in double crochet stitch,  rather than single crochet. I think these steps will ensure a smoother finish, a looser stitch and a smoother feel to the finished product.

If any of you are crocheters and have tips for me based on what I've shared, please do drop me a line!

Crafty Wednesday

Welcome to my newest follower, Lonicera!

Hi friends and bloggers,

I've missed doing my crafts while I've been away so much on family related matters this summer. I just had to make a new dishcloth and pull out an unfinished doily.

Here is the new dishcloth I've made. I used a larger set of needles than I am used to using. Normally I use a size 4 mm set of needles but this time I used a size 6 mm as that is what the pattern recommends. I must say it sure is a lot faster though and the tension is a lot looser and the weave more open.

I will be making several of these for a friend who wants to give them as gifts at a headstone potlatch for her deceased brother.  Click here for more information about the potlatch of the Southern Tutchone which is my friend's tribal group.  This pattern seems to go by various names but I think Grandma's Dishcloth is probably the original name someone gave it though I don't know who set out the original pattern. If I make a lot of these and I get bored with it, there are a host of other patterns out there that I can try.

It will take me a a little bit longer to get used to my tension with this larger sized needles but that shouldn't be a problem as I will be making many more of these dishcloths over the coming months.

I've also brought out a doily I started some time ago.  This is a square doily and is my first one of this shape. Normally I make round doilies (click here for a sample).  The doily is about two thirds finished. I hope to finish it in a day or two and block it so the pattern is more visible. If you look closely you can see four pineapples which join at the centre of the doily.

I think this particular colour looks really nice for this time of year in North America where it is the Fall or Autumn season. I also have some navy blue cotton which is lined with white which I think will look stunning for a pattern I've yet to settle upon.

Now that the Fall weather has arrived in the western hemisphere, do you also feel the need to "get crafty"? If you live in other parts of the world, do you find the change of seasons spurs you on to certain types of activities?

Before and After Doily ~ My World Tuesday, June 22, 2010

My World today is not an outdoor view but an indoor view of a quiet indoor activity. I've been working on a crocheted doily this week and I finished it in the wee hours of this morning. I should have finished it earlier in the day but wasn't up to much crochet until I had a nap. I picked it up around midnight and played with it off and on.

This is a photo taken about half way through the doily pattern.

I am not 100% sure if I followed the pattern correctly as it seems I had to do a little improvising on the last row but it looks fine to me with the minor changes. You might be able to see there are 6 large and 6 small pineapple motifs in this Pineapple Blossom pattern.  I chose to make this pattern out of the printed patterns I have because it is a larger than normal doily. Here is the book I got the pattern from if you'd like to make it yourself.  If you would like an easier Pineapple Blossom pattern, I found a free one here.

These photos taken after completion.

Now I will wash and block the doily and hopefully that process will flatten out the ruffles. I will update this blog post by adding a photo of the blocked doily when it is ready.

Please click here to see more wonderful people, places and things from around the world.

Update:

Here is a photo of the blocked doily drying on a towel.  The colour looks different from the doily in the photos above but this latest shot is the true colour. I'm happy to report that after washing and gently stretching the doily into shape, the ruffles in the doily are largely gone and the doily measures exactly 18 inches in diameter. That means my tension was perfect as indicated in the pattern.  My second doily in the same pattern is going much smoother now that I am somewhat familiar with the design.

All Things Crochet

I started this doily the other day and I wanted to make progress on it this weekend.

The first photo shows my progress after struggle to read the pattern and crochet the first four rounds.

I did a few more rounds yesterday and about 12 rounds today to get the product in this second photo.



This doily is called "Pineapple Blossom". You can't really see the pineapples yet. The pattern says the doily will ruffle slightly. Perhaps mine is slightly more ruffled then it should be as I lost the smaller crochet hook after the first day and a half and I continued with a crochet hook that is .25 mm larger.

Once the doily is completed I will wash and block it. This process will hopefully flatten it out properly. I can post another photo after this process is done.

Coupled with not having worked with thread for so long and a difficult to read pattern, I found the doily quite the struggle. I am just happy I've made it this far *smile and now feel I can complete it.

I will make another similar doily soon after finishing the first one. That way I can better learn the pattern. Stay tuned.

If any of you are crocheters, I'd love to hear whether you follow patterns and how often you find the patterns poorly written. Do any of you look at the pictures that come with patterns to help you decipher the instructions? Have any of you ever made anything larger than a doily (say like a bedspread or a table cloth). I've always wondered how long these projects take. They seem so daunting.